What is western modernity and how did education help to shape that modernity? Through an examination of schooling in elite British institutions, Alan Macfarlane tries to answer these question, particularly to explain the choices facing China and other emerging superpowers. One section looks at his English education; society and power, play and performance, head and heart, spirit and character. Another looks at education more widely: how it shaped the English world, English and Continental European education, English and Chinese traditional education. Some benefits and costs of modernity concludes the book.